Georgian government opens hotline to report FARA violations

The Georgian government has opened a phone hotline and an email inbox for individuals to report alleged violations of the new restrictive media law, allegedly based on the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which comes into effect on 1 June.

Under the law, a foreign agent is defined as any person (legal or physical) who is under the control of, or acts at the direction of, a foreign power and acts in the interests of that foreign power.

It aims to replace the controversial foreign agents law that was passed in 2024, which Georgian Dream said was not effective enough. Unlike the previous law, the new law will also affect individuals.

Failure to comply with the law can be punishable by up to five years of imprisonment, a fine of up to ₾10,000 ($3,600), or both.

Ahead of the law coming into force, Georgia’s Anti-Corruption Bureau released a website containing a variety of information about the law, including a section for e-filing.

The website also has a section for alleged violations to be reported, along with the text: ‘If you believe that an individual, group of partners, association, corporation, non-profit (non-commercial) legal entity or any other association of individuals is violating any provision of the law or is required to register and is not registering, please notify the Anti-Corruption Bureau’.

The US FARA law was originally enacted in 1938, in the lead-up to World War II, when the US was facing sustained threats of foreign influence from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which were both considered to be hostile powers.

However, until US President Donald Trump’s first term in 2017, it was rarely employed beyond being used to force foreign lobbyists to register. Indeed, between 1988 and 2018, the US Department of Justice only brought 10 criminal FARA cases against 11 organisations and individuals.

Critics have repeatedly pointed out that the aim of the US law has not been to target civil society and media organisations, something that Georgian Dream is doing by invoking just the text of FARA, without taking into account US judicial practices.

Georgian Dream again hints at regulating online media

The ruling party emphasised that online media has been growing as a source of information.

OC MediaMikheil Gvadzabia